Press Bulletin From San Juan Copala

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Wednesday June 09, 2010 17:18 by LASC - Latin America Solidarity Centre events at lasc dot ie 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2 01 6760435

The Municipality of San Juan Copala gives its position in front the events occurred today with the Humanitarian Caravan “Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola"

To the social, civil, political, academic, indigenous, and solidarity organizations that conform this Caravan called "Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola”

To the national and international media

To the Human Rights’ organizations To “La Otra Campaña”

Today, June 8th the humanitarian caravan “Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola” was not allowed to enter the community of San Juan Copala and had to leave behind more than 30 tons of humanitarian aid and food meant to be delivered. This occurred because the local and federal governments, in complicity with the group of criminals that keep the paramilitary siege on San Juan Copala, created a new one to prevent the fulfillment of the mission’s goal.
The local government through its police corps and the local District Attorney formed a “governmental” siege to protect the UBISORT and keep the caravan from getting into San Juan Copala to deliver the water and food collected during these past weeks. Arguing that “there were no conditions” and “that there had been shootings” the new imposed siege has now an open and public presence of federal and local police departments, who instead of granting security to this mission and instead of being present in La Sabana to ensure the free transit and non-aggression, they decided to protect the murderers. The District Attorney said that she “had to talk to the UBISORT and invite them into the Caravan”, only then, she could guarantee stepping in San Juan.
According to the information collected during our journey through our communities, a numerous group of women and children of the community La Sabana, members and supporters of the UBISORT were blocking the road that leads to San Juan Copala with the clear intention to provoke some kind of aggression from the Caravan. After this blockage we found another one made of rocks guarded by armed men, maybe the same men that killed our partners Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola in the name of whom we tried to break the paramilitary siege.
The Caravan’s coordination, integrated by partners who are authorities of our Autonomous Municipality, chose to go further to the community of Agua Fria Copala and analyze the security conditions because the local police and the District Attorney had manifested that they would not be held accountable if anything happened from the town of Juxtlahuaca and beyond.
We thought that the presence of the federal authorities was meant to guarantee our safety; however there intention was to dissuade us from entering the community claiming they had heard gunfire.
This gun firing heard by the federal police is the one heard everyday and during all day in San Juan Copala; is what keeps the community torn and has caused that families abandon our town; it has denied the entrance of doctors, teachers and salesmen creating an armed and violent siege.
Some people and organizations may feel disappointed or angry about what happened today as we are. The courage and indignation, which remains within our hearts for the prohibition of entering San Juan Copala,
feeds our spirit to keep going. The siege has to be broken; today was not possible but will keep on trying. Today we were not defeated, we only decided not to risk more human lives in the hands of those unpunished murderers. We’ll keep looking for ways to help the inhabitants of San Juan Copala to resist longer this coward aggression. We hope that they understand and respect our decision as painful and as odd as it may seem.
It has been made clear that neither the state government nor the federal government have the capacity and the will to control and punish this criminal and paramilitary group. What happens in this region doesn’t seem important to any of these authorities that do not defend nor punish any of this assassins; and so far they have only protected them with a siege pretending that the Caravan should dialogue and “ask for permission” to cross through the occupied territory.
If the state and federal government cannot ensure food and medicines to the people of San Juan Copala, the civil society, with support from the international community, will have to find mechanisms to achieve it. The international authorities will play an important role in the total vacuum of power.
The caravan is integrated by people of different political ideologies, and by people who, otherwise, would never have been able to walk together. This capacity of coexistence and respect shown in the Caravan is for us a success because it could only have been created by mankind and the love for our brothers and sisters Triqui who are deprived of their fundamental rights and are at risk of being killed at any moment. Thanks to everyone.
After all this, the Municipality of San Juan Copala expresses its voice through this newsletter and notes:
1. The food and supplies that were to be delivered in this Caravan will be sheltered in Huajuapan de Leon until we find the best way to get them in and deliver them to the families of San Juan Copala.
2. From tomorrow our Municipality authorities will formally seek the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as different levels of the United Nations in Mexico to request their intervention in the delivery of the nearly 35 tons of aid gathered to this Caravan.
3. We will pressure and demand that the Attorney General of the Republic (Procuraduría General de la República) gives immediate results on the investigation of the events of April 27th, since with their silence they are being accomplices of the paramilitary murderers.
4. If we are not able to deliver the humanitarian aid in the coming weeks, we will convoke a New Humanitarian Caravan composed only of women from around the country and the world, as a gesture of solidarity and support to our partners that survive inhuman conditions imposed in San Juan Copala.
5. We demand the immediate demobilization and disarmament of the paramilitary group UBISORT protected by the government of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and by the members of the political party PRI linked to the state.
6. We invite national and International organizations of the civil society who have shown solidarity to our cause to remain aware of the actions and communications issued by the Municipality of San Juan Copala to break the siege paramilitary and achieve justice for our people
This caravan will be returning tomorrow to Mexico City to inform all organizations and colleagues who joined the Caravan. The reception meeting will take place in the Zocalo in Mexico City at 3 pm.
The siege will have to be broken, it gradually wears down. Governments can not maintain the paramilitary murderers unpunished. San Juan Copala has to return to normal and demand that the rights of indigenous peoples be respected.
MUNICIPIO AUTONOMO DE SAN JUAN COPALA
CASIMIRO MARTINEZ AGUILAR